The 9 Best Whiskey Bars in America for 2023
What makes a great whiskey bar? The selection of brown stuff behind the bar, certainly. But there’s a bit more to it than just that. Any whiskey lover will tell you how important it is to truly appreciate what you’re drinking—and everyone has their own drinking rituals. Whether you sip single malt Scotch neat or prefer bourbon or rye shaken up in an ice-cold cocktail, each whiskey needs to be taken on its own terms, and treated with care. A great whiskey bar isn’t defined by how many rare bottles it stocks, but by how expertly it makes its particular whiskeys shine.
These bars vary widely in terms of their atmosphere and specialties. Some are refined cocktail dens, others punk-blaring dives. There are classic bourbon-swilling spots, as well as one exceptional, of-the-moment Japanese whisky-focused establishment, and everything in between. In other words, there’s something for every type of whiskey fan, whatever their budget and wherever they happen to be located across the U.S. (There’s even an option for those who demand delicious pizza with their booze.) The one common ingredient here is that they all share an intense passion for showcasing just how great whiskey can taste.
Related: 20 Best Bourbons for an Old Fashioned, Tasted and Reviewed
With the help of whiskey experts, from bartenders to cocktail historians, we’ve selected the best whiskey bars in the country right now, below. But one stands out as the very best of the bunch: Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, DC, which should be on every whiskey drinker’s must-visit bucket list.
Why You Should Trust Me
I’ve been writing about and editing coverage of spirits, cocktails, and drinking culture for over a decade. I’ve visited beloved bars, both high-end and hardcore dive, from New York City to Miami to Chicago to Portland, Oregon.
To assemble this list of the best whiskey bars, I consulted numerous experts from deep in the world of whiskey, including top bartenders, brand ambassadors, and historians. I researched bars, and relied on my own experiences in some venues to reach my judgments. Variety is the key here. There’s a mix of brand-new bars, long-running joints, places with food (and places for drinking and only drinking), and every major region is represented.
What We Look For in a Whiskey Bar
While selecting our top whiskey bars, we (myself and the Men’s Journal editors) and our experts first and foremost judged each bar by how fabulous a straight-up tipple of whiskey can be there. A certain ineffable appreciation for the whiskey being handled is also crucial. That means an astutely curated menu of available whiskeys, if not always a vast one—though a few have that. We also looked for top-notch service from meticulous and caring staff, creativity and execution in cocktails, smart design, and of course, all-important vibes.
If these are cocktail bars, they should be able to brilliantly execute both classic drinks (old fashioned, Manhattan, Sazerac) and devise their own ingenious creations. But whatever the genre, the best whiskey bars must be all about whiskey—tasting it, mixing it, learning about it—and what makes us enjoy it so much.
The Best Whiskey Bars
Jack Rose Dining Saloon/Greg Powers
Get a serious whiskey enthusiast talking about their favorite haunt in the U.S. right now, and it’s only a matter of time before you hear the name Jack Rose Dining Saloon, usually hushed in reverent tones. Winner of the World’s Best Spirits Selection at Tales of the Cocktail’s 2022 Spirited Awards, the whiskey palace in America’s capital is extravagance done right. An updated ticker on its website lists the precise number of whiskey bottles on the wall (2,687, as of this writing).
The expansive space in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, opened in 2011 by owner and whiskey geek Bill Thomas, includes the main dining saloon (with a concise, Southern-tinged food menu perfect for whiskey pairings), an open-air terrace, a balcony room, a cellar, and even a tiki bar—for every mood or dram. Sidle up to the saloon with its library-like bottle display, chat up one of the impeccable servers, and settle on your poison. Or opt for the rotating Only at Jack Rose three-whiskey flight, highlighting its most interesting single barrels at the moment.
Courtesy Bourbons Bistro
Any conversation about the ultimate bourbon bar must start and end in Kentucky. Louisville, a short trip from Bourbon County, hosts any number of wonderful bourbon-centric spots—but Bourbons Bistro, opened in 2005 when America’s modern whiskey obsession began, is especially enticing. The best bar winner at the 2023 Whisky Magazine Awards has an expansive bottles list, from accessible Evan Williams Black Label to not-so-accessible Pappy Van Winkle 20-year, along with elevated Southern eats like spicy fried oysters with Parmesan grits.
Courtesy Neat Bourbon Bar & Bottle Shop
If you’ve ever wanted to sip your whiskey and take a bottle to go, Neat has got you. Opened in 2021, it’s a modern, sophisticated bourbon bar with an old-school sensibility. The warmly lit space is adorned with red leather stools, wood-paneled walls, and a pressed-tin ceiling like your grandpa might have designed it. The enviable bourbons, likewise, emphasize rare, beautiful past bottlings including from defunct distilleries. Order a sought-after pour of National Distillers 1972 Old Grand Dad Swing, then head to the shop to snag a bottle of Wild Turkey 12 Year for home or your hotel room.
Courtesy Johnny’s Saloon
John Grondorf, owner of Los Angeles’s buzzy Tiny’s Hi-Dive, calls Johnny’s Saloon in nearby Orange County “a twisted Cheers with hundreds of bottles of whiskey and awesome pizza in a punk-rock-haunted-house environment.” Score a Michter's Small Batch bourbon, along with the I Wanna Be Sedated pie (pepperoni, sausage, bell pepper, ricotta and pecorino romano cheese, garlic dust), and you will also find bliss.
Courtesy Traghaven Whiskey Pub
There’s no shortage of Guinness-pouring taverns dotting the U.S., but if you’re after Ireland’s prime whiskeys, it doesn’t get more tantalizing than Traghaven, nestled in the quiet Hudson Valley town of Tivoli. The unassuming but lively pub happens to have the largest Irish whiskey selection stateside. Choose a pour from the 150-odd bottles, then dig into a “killer cottage pie,” says Cody Goldstein, founder of Muddling Memories, a hospitality group based in Brooklyn. “If that wasn’t enough to entice you to go, they do a live hootenanny on Fridays.”
Courtesy Shinji’s
Japanese whisky has never been hotter, for good reason: The country is producing some of the most innovative, complex, and thrilling whiskies around. Just opened in 2022, Shinji’s is an intimate, 26-seat bar adjoining the Michelin-starred omakase sushi restaurant Noda in New York’s Flatiron district. When a reservation there proves impossible to secure, this is the ideal place to graze through the largest Japanese whisky selection in the city and enjoy a bite from that acclaimed kitchen: tableside hand roll service, chips with Royal Osetra caviar, or a “sando” of Wagyu beef smashed between slices of luscious milk bread.
“Their focus on omotenashi, a Japanese concept of a higher level hospitality where a guest’s every need is anticipated, is one of the best in the country,” says Gardner Dunn, brand ambassador for Suntory. He likes to grab whatever’s new and seasonal. “The Jackie Treehorn, a Hibiki Harmony cocktail, is fun.”
Courtesy Delilah’s
The charmingly ramshackle rock ‘n’ roll bar Delilah’s has been a Chicago institution since opening in 1993, long before whiskey snobbery became a thing. It’s still the most delightfully unpretentious place in the city to imbibe a pour of prized Highland Park 18-year Scotch. The whiskey list includes over 1,000 bottles, the DJs frequently spin the Clash and the Replacements, and you can play Godzilla pinball.
The 2018 winner of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program, CURE has done a lot to put today’s leading-edge New Orleans cocktail scene on the map. This is the place to order an unexpectedly head-spinning contemporary concoction (put yourself in the hands of the next-level bartenders) or an elegant riff on a comforting classic like the Fancy Sazerac (Wild Turkey Rare Breed Rye, Peychaud’s bitters, Nouvelle Orleans absinthe, lemon peel) in the handsome, minimalist space.
It doesn’t get much cooler than Canon, the heavily awarded self-described “whiskey and bitter emporium,” which boasts America’s largest spirit collection at 4,000-plus in a tiny, gorgeously appointed space in the Capitol Hill area. You’d do well to honor its design, equal parts colonial and contemporary, with something old and extraordinary like William Heavenhill Small Batch neat (nurse it ever so slowly) or thoughtfully remixed, like one of the house old fashioned riffs (sans ice, as originally intended). Definitely check out the adventurous food menu (e.g. tea-smoked duck breast, confit rabbit taquito) to round out the indulgence.
What Should You Order at a Whiskey Bar?
There’s pretty much no wrong way to enjoy whiskey (except, say, mixed with warm Sprite—please don’t do that). Most whiskey aficionados and bartenders will tell you to taste a whiskey neat in order to get its full flavor profile and complexity, and that’s a good way to start. After sniffing the whiskey in your glass, then taking a sip (a Glencairn glass is preferred but not necessary), you can always add a drop of water or a few cubes as you like. No judgment here.
Related: The Best Cheap Whiskey of 2023 for a Great Time on a Budget
Ordering an old fashioned will reliably test a bar’s cocktail-making abilities. A bad one is terrible, but an excellent one is sublime, revealing the nuances of the whiskey in it. From there, any amount of experimentation is fair game—this is drinking, after all, not heart surgery—as long as the results do the booze justice.
